Finality
by Darkraven Haven
Summary: A One Shot Drabble of the Final Conflict and it's after effects on the five that saw it through to the end.


Finality

Two years since Albus Dumbledore died on top of the Astronomy Tower, two years since the blow to the Order was able to be sorted out, two years for Harry to be ready to face destiny, two years since her parents died the same night as Albus did, and tonight she would get her revenge.

It was a sad sight. The Death Eaters were boxed in. The plan was taken right out of Muggle history. A common practice used by none other than Napoleon. Forcing small numbers of enemies into tight spaces thus limiting their range of attack and limiting the casualties to one's own troops. Using the multitude of school hallways, this was not a difficult task. It eliminated numerous of their numbers, and limited the enemy's access to the children who were locked into their common rooms.

Hermione was on the fighting end of the war. She had been providing information to the Order now from her "confidential" source for the last two years. This attack had been precisely planned in less than three hours. It was the only amount of warning her source could provide.

Hermione had learned to trust Snape when he brought Draco, battered and badly broken to her and begged her to take care of him during his recovery. Snape never begged. Using her parents house, she had made sure that Draco was nursed back to health, that he was cared for, and that he had to learn a little appreciation for Muggles in the process. Meanwhile the Dark Lord lived contently that the boy blunder was dead.

Prisoners broken out of Azkaban had earned them one more very powerful ally. Lucius Malfoy, for all of his pompous arrogance realized that his illustrious Lord wanted the end of the Malfoy line. He owed Hermione and Snape a Wizard's Debt, and the Malfoys always repaid their debts. Draco too, owed Hermione deeply for his survival. Although he much received her still as if she were a completely different breed than himself, he no longer insulted her heritage.

Snape's reading of Hermione's copy of War and Peace had paid off. It truly was a masterpiece at the fine Art of War. Snape had never realized how precise Muggles had become at such an art. Utilizing the book and it's plans, he was able to reveal the best way to avoid attacks through notes simply saying page numbers in her copy of the book. Hermione was smart enough to put together the clues and relay them to the Order.

As the attack was winding down, the showdown between Harry and Voldemort was not what anyone was anticipating. Everyone assumed that Harry would cast the Killing Curse on him and it would be over. This was not to be. Voldemort had ordered that the boy not be killed by anyone's hand other than his own for a reason. Harry was a Horcrux. All the others had been destroyed. Harry was the last one. And for Voldemort to truly be destroyed, all the Horcruxes had to be destroyed. It was indeed Harry's wand that brought about the end of Voldemort. But it was Lucius Malfoy, Severus Snape, Draco Malfoy, Hermione Granger and Ronald Weasley that dealt the killing blows to the wizard.

Harry stood back as hex after hex, curse after curse was slung into the sociopath of a wizard, destroying from the inside out. Piece by piece Voldemort was torn to pieces only to have Voldemort's last move leave him no choice but to attempt to access Harry as the Horcrux. Nagini had been destroyed sometime last year, and Harry was his only chance at survival now. The trap had worked perfectly.

Harry walked to the dying wizard, wand in hand. Instead of killing him, as most there suspected he would do. He turned to his friends with a sad, desperate smile and cast the Killing Curse on himself. Hermione screamed in anguish, Ron had fainted, Draco stood staring and dropping his wand upon the floor as Snape and the other Malfoy watched the black cloud that was what was left of Voldemort twist and writhe into an agonizing death before he was no more. Harry crumpled on top of what was left of Voldemort twitching in death throws that had given Hermione the false hope of his life not having ebbed away.

It took Lucius and Severus to keep her from the bodies as Voldemort's disintegrated into an acidic puddle that took Harry's with it. The only thing left of the Boy Who Lived To Die Killing Voldemort was his famous glasses and his doubly famous wand, and the fingers that clung to that wand.

As Harry James Potter vanished, the two men that were holding her back crumpled to the ground in agonizing screams, clutching onto their left arms leaving Hermione no choice but to leave her sorrow behind and deal with the living before there were more dead. Draco too seemed to snap from his haze and helped Hermione with multitudes of cooling charms to keep them from combusting.

Other Death Eaters did not fare as well, their marks taking their final revenge for failing their master as every person who was not immediately tended to internally combust taking large amounts of the school with it. It took everything Draco and Hermione had to rouse Ron, and get Severus and Lucius to safety. The fires were quick spreading like these fires tended to be. Human fat is a very combustible substance once it finally does ignite, and it vaporizes as well, thusly floating on the air until it comes to a cooler substance than itself. Then it sticks like napalm. Much of the school suffered large amounts of fire damage.

Severus and Lucius were literally packed in ice for over three hours to maintain survivable body temperature. All the while horrors played across their minds from the torment of their fevers. Hermione never left their sides, crying intermittently along with Ron and Draco. Poppy tended to all the wounded, along with a large crew from Saint Mungo's. Her tears over their most feared former Potion Master were very confusing to many of the survivors.

It took several weeks for the two former Death Eaters to regain their strength. It was no easy recovery for either of them. They had both taken great damage, as well as losing a great deal of people they knew and trusted. Lucius had taken this very hard, more than Severus. He had been responsible for the death of his wife, his sister in law, and numerous other people that had been his friends over the years. All in the name to save his family name. He did not do it to work for the Light, as Hermione well knew, but she was not about to tell anyone that. Lucius' spells were invaluable in the final moments of the battle. For that, he had bought her silence in the matter, as long as he remained an upstanding wizard throughout her lifetime.

Lucius Malfoy was pardoned by the Wizengamot but not without price. He was banned from ever taking an active role in the Ministry or politics as a whole for the rest of his life. He was also banned from ever being able to visit Muggle areas of the world without "proper" escort. That escort could be his son, myself, any member of the Aurors or another authorized by the Ministry.

Severus Snape's trial hadn't gone much differently. He was banned from teaching, which was fine with him. He was banned from ever taking on an apprentice, which was a big blow for him. He could never pass his art onto anyone, including his children. He was banned from practicing politics, which was fine with him. And the same reproaches to visiting Muggle areas applied to him that had applied to Lucius Malfoy. Overall it was not a loss other than his inability to take on an apprentice.

Draco was never tried, or charged. This at least left the future to the Malfoy Family open and did not curse it into nonexistence.

It was his inability to take on a new apprentice that led to where she stood today. The art that had been so carefully developed by Severus Snape would not go down without a fight on her part. Two years ago, if you had told her she would be fighting to give Severus Snape anything except a good hex in a dark alley, you would be the one finding themselves hexed. But so much had changed. So much death, so much loss, so much power mixed into lies and betrayal, it had to end.

And so Hermione Granger took on the Wizengamot, with Draco Malfoy at her side. And history was being told once again, as pureblood and muggle born fought for the rights of a potion master who had sacrificed everything for the lives of those placing the judgments on him.

"Miss Granger, we understand your role in the war was pivotal, but we do not see any need to rescind our original judgment," Barrister MacMahn began. "We understand that Severus Snape was playing the role of Spy for the Order all through his tenure as a Potion Master for Hogwarts. We also understand that he never attended any higher learning at all and never apprenticed himself, thusly our judgment stands."

"Barristers, surely you must understand that the times being what they were did not allow for Mr. Snape to apprentice? Surely you can attest through some of your own children's knowledge of the art that he was indeed an excellent teacher of the art!" she said spiritually.

"I am willing to listen to any arguments you may have Miss Granger, but without sufficient representation I am afraid much of your testimony will fall on deaf ears this day," the pompous git said fighting her best efforts.

"Will I be proper representation?" Draco said with a sneer.

"Will I?" Minerva MacGonagall stood from her seat.

"Will I?" Neville Longbottom stood.

"Will I?" Molly Weasley stood.

"Will I?" Minister Arthur Weasley wheeled himself forward. He had suffered extreme burns to his legs and was still recovering.

"Will I?" Ronald Weasley stood.

"Will I?" Nymphadora Tonks stood.

"Will I?" Remus Lupin stood.

"Will I?" Pansy Parkinson stood.

"Will I?" Seamus Finnegan stood.

"Will I?" The voice boomed from the back of the room. Obvious that _Sonoras _had been cast to carry the voice through the double doors, as they slammed open just after it was said. The entire room stopped and turned to see whom was at the door. Seeing nothing at first except for a misty twinkling in the air, Hermione's breath caught in her throat. She knew that voice. Ron fainted. Molly and Arthur gasped as half the room saw the misty twinkling take form. Only for a moment, then it was gone, but there was no mistaking who it had been. Albus Dumbledore. The room filled with the sweet smell of chocolate for a brief moment as a peaceful breeze filled the room.

"Will you deny the wish of the dead?" Hermione choked to the Wizengamot.

"Will you deny Albus Dumbledore? Will you deny any of us who sacrificed all including our families, best friends, loved ones and our lives so you could live to make these rulings?" Draco said in as arrogant a tone as she had ever heard from him.

It took two days for the Wizengamot to rescind its order against Severus Snape and allow him his rights as a Potions Master. Up to and including teaching if he so deemed fit to do so.

When Severus was presented with Draco's Pensive of the entire of the events, Hermione saw for the first time the dour man, abused and tortured most of his life, stand with pride as though Atlas had shrugged and released the weight of the world from his shoulders. At the same time, she saw his eyes were filled with unshed tears as he quickly excused himself and fled into his private rooms.

Two years ago Voldemort died, two years ago Harry Potter died, two years ago Lucius Malfoy was pardoned, two years ago Severus Snape was allowed to be free, two years ago Hermione Granger was free, two years ago everything changed for everyone and there was no fear.

"We stand here today in memory of those that fell during the final conflict. We stand here in recognition of those that accomplished their goals, sacrificed their lives for the lives of others, and gave freedom to us all from tyranny and the Dark," the new Minister said with a humbling gesture. Standing upon the stage were those that remembered their days as part of Dumbledore's Army. The day they stood up to Voldemort, and gave back all the fear he had given, and gave him all the fight they had learned through their continuation of care, teamwork and decisive action.

"Hermione Granger, Severus Snape, Draco Malfoy, Lucius Malfoy, and Ronald Weasley please step forward," they did, unknowing of what was to be. They had all been heralded last year with medals and accreditations, what was this about?

"I am proud to give unto each of you these cases. Contained within is the last wish of Harry James Potter. His wishes were left with Remus Lupin prior to his demise at the final conflict. It has taken four years to accomplish the task, but you will find within the last gift Mr. Potter wished for you each to have. Cherish it and pass it down your bloodlines. Your heraldry, heroism, and your insight into things unseen gave us our lives and livelihoods, take these gifts and cherish them. Your bloodlines shall be remembered for all time," the Minister bowed low then as he stood the cases were handed out to each of them.

Hermione opened her case, inside was a delicately designed wand. The crest on the inside of the case was made especially to represent her family. The wand within was indescribable, with a note written in Harry's scribbled hand.

'Hermione. For you, the one who always pointed me in the right direction, who read every line of every book to ensure my life and my goal I Harry James Potter give unto you this wand. It is made from the willow wood that so suits you, the handle made from pure mahogany, the core is made from part of myself so that I will always be with you. You were my pointer, and if you are ever lost, I hope this wand will guide your way as you guided mine.'

Severus Snape was next to open his. Inside again was a wand, not as elegant as Hermione's but made for a Potion Master nonetheless.

'Severus Snape. For you, the one who always forced me to see me as myself, who forced me to work hard and earn my way, who taught me that I must stay true to myself despite the tortures of the Dark Lord's mind, who taught me that sacrifices are made by the hardest of working people I, Harry James Potter, give you this wand. It is made from Black Pine, suitable for your potions. The handle is made from Black Birch to ensure your steady hand, and the core is made from part of myself, the hardest working part of any hand.'

Draco Malfoy opened his next. Inside was indeed a masculine, yet elegant wand. It rivaled Hermione's in character, but was definitely made for a man.

'Malfoy. For you, the one that made sure I never let it go to my head, the one that worked so hard to remind me of everything I was afraid to be, the one that kept me Light when all seemed Dark I, Harry James Potter give you this wand. The wand is made from White Cypress, the handle whalebone. The core is made from the most elegant part of the human hand. Grace and dignity was what you always wished to represent, I hope it serves you as it served me.'

Ron opened his next.

'Ron, you have been my backbone throughout all of this. You have been stubborn, and showed me that there are times when one cannot just talk their way out. There are times when force is necessary, there are times when temperance is a must and there are times when family value will win out over all. This wand is made from White Pine, the handle of Roc bone, and the core is made from the most offensive part of the human hand. It is for you to cherish and to keep you strong in times when strength is not with you'

Lastly Lucius Malfoy opened his.

'Mister Malfoy, you have been many things in my life. Enemy, attempted killer, house elf torturer, father to a man I came later to respect and in the end, a saviour. The wood of this wand is made from Transylvanian Elm, the handle made from the bone of a certain (now deceased) hippogriff, the core made from the part of my hand that would have once held Ginny's wedding band. You have always been loyal to your beliefs, even if they proved flawed from time to time. You were a loyal husband, father, and daring man. Your loyalty will carry you far in the future. Please accept this wand as my token of my thanks for staying loyal to your family even if it meant sacrificing your beliefs. I was never meant to live. I lived only to be the end of the Dark Lord by his own making. I am not so naïve to believe that the Dark has no place in the world, but if it is held in check by the light and by love and loyalty, I believe it has a hearth to call itself home. This wand will always protect those you are truly loyal to, your family.'

Two years ago, she received the wand that contained the remnants of Harry's index finger. Two years ago she held Severus Snape as she cried finally for her loss. Two years ago she was told she was always a welcome guest at Malfoy Manor. Two years ago, she became his apprentice. Two years ago they discovered the true power of the wands they had been given when index finger and thumb worked to create a potion that ended the threat of Lycanthropy in people who had yet shifted. Two years ago they perfected it, making werewolf bite not contagious. Two years ago, Remus Lupin was finally able to be a man and live his life as a Professor again. Two years ago he married Nymphadora Tonks. Two years ago she fell in love with her Potion Master. Two years ago Draco married Ginny. Two years ago Lucius funded the rebuilding of Hogwarts. Two years ago, the portrait of Harry finally started talking inside of Number Twelve Grimmald Place, taking great glee that the person whom painted the portrait had the thought to give him a gag and rope in which to finally shut up Mrs. Black for all time.

Two years ago Ron married Luna, and Hermione touched the heart beyond all the stone of the once very dour Potion Master.

Today, she became his wife. Today she set aside her vicious past and made a new way for a new path into the future. Today, she would let him do the same. Today, she earned back every point he had taken from Gryffindor House during her years as his student as one of his wedding gifts to her. Today she gave him the satisfaction of taking some of them away for cheek and behavior not becoming a student as they made the way to their first son.

FIN


End file.
